Yay for baseball, but who pays?

Portlanders split over whether big-league plan needs public cash

By Jason Vondersmith And Don Hamilton

The Portland Tribune, May 7, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

A startling two-thirds of Portland area voters support the city’s pursuit of a major league baseball team, but many think it will mean using public money, according to a new Portland Tribune/KOIN (6) poll.

The survey, conducted April 25 through April 29, showed 67 percent of respondents favored the city’s efforts to bring big league baseball to town with 30 percent in opposition and 3 percent unsure.

“That’s good. It doesn’t surprise me,” said David Kahn, who’s heading the Oregon Baseball Campaign quest to build a stadium and lure a team.

Research 2000 of Rockville, Md., conducted the poll of 600 likely Oregon voters, approximately half of them living in the Portland area. The statewide results had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points while the Portland area results have a margin of error of 6 percentage points.

The response was different statewide than in the Portland area. The poll showed 55 percent of Oregonians favoring the city’s efforts, 38 opposed and 7 percent unsure. Fifty-seven percent of men were in support statewide and 53 percent of women.

“We did similar polling during the (last) legislative session, and the numbers are almost completely on point,” Kahn said. “It can’t hurt. It can only help. I also think if you had told me 38 percent were in favor and 55 against, I wouldn’t be deterred. It would only indicate we hadn’t done a good job of informing the public. We’ve done a good job of making them feel comfortable.”

“You’re talking two-thirds of (Portland) voters,” said Del Ali, whose firm conducted the poll. “To me, that’s overwhelming in favor of the pursuit of a major league team. It pertains to, ‘Do you want baseball or not?’ For proponents of baseball, that’s a good starting point. But you can’t just look at the poll and say, ‘We have public support.’ ”

The poll also looked at feelings about public financing. It showed 35 percent of Portland area voters felt the team ultimately would require spending public money, and 38 percent did not. Another 27 percent said they weren’t sure.

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